BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest an association between H. pylori infection and disorders such as iron deficiency anemia and growth delay. Considering the high prevalence of H. pylori infection and iron deficiency anemia, this study was performed in order to evaluate their relevance in children undergoing an upper endoscopy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, children aged 2 to 16 years old, undergoing endoscopy from March 2012 to March 2013 at Besat Hospital of Hamedan, were selected. Participants were divided in H.Pylori infected and non-infected groups. Then the two groups were compared in terms of body mass index (BMI) and the incidence of iron deficiency anemia. The presence of Helicobacter pylori infection in children was confirmed by Giemsa staining of gastric biopsy specimens. Collected data was analyzed by SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) and t-test and chi-square.
RESULTS: In this study, 200 children (94 male and 106 female) were evaluated. The most common presenting symptom in both groups was abdominal pain. 8.2 % (9 cases) of the infected patients and 10.5% (10 cases) of the non-infected patients had iron deficiency anemia which this difference was not statistically significant (p=270). Also, no statistically significant difference was noted between the two groups in terms of gender (p=0.32), hemoglobin (p=0.35), Ferritin levels (p= 0.275) and body mass index (p= 0.273).
CONCLUSION: The results of this study not showed an association between H. pylori infection and iron deficiency anemia or body mass index in studied children.
